Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Amy’s Five Children’s Books for Getting into the Spirit of Snow

The Snow Day by Komako Sakai (Arthur Levine, $16.99)
Not to be confused with Ezra Jack Keats’ Snowy Day (see below), this book tells a similar tale of a young child who spends a long and glorious snow day at home with her mom, waiting for the snowstorm to end so she can go outside and make snow dumplings and snow monsters. Best line in a children’s book: “Mama, we are all alone in the world,” and that sums up this quiet and beautifully illustrated book.

Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton (Houghton Mifflin, $16.00)
If you love Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne, you will also love Katy the snowplow, who’s finally given a chance to prove herself when the city is buried in snow. The story is simple, but the illustrations are loaded with details about machinery and map-like details of the city. Burton has a knack for bringing life and beauty to old-fashioned machines and a respect for a simple way of life.

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs (Dragonfly Books, $6.99)
What would happen if your snowman came to life? What would you feed him for dinner? Ice cubes, of course!

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
(Viking Press, $6.99 Board, $16.99 Hardcover)

This classic book tells the story of Peter, a young boy waking up to see his neighborhood transformed by the snow, and follows him on his explorations.

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
(Dial Books for Young Readers, $6.99 Board, $15.99 Hardcover)

This story imagines that when you go to bed, all the snowmen of the neighborhood get together for a party, drink ice-cold cocoa, have snowball fights and go sledding. It’s a big hit with the kiddos.

December 2010, Amy Vaccarello

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